Jolanda Jones In More Hot Water: City Says She Lied To Investigators

As we reported back when it happened in February, city councilmember Jolanda Jones went to a publich earing on alleged HPD abuses handed out cards urging residents to not talk to police if questioned, cards which contained the phone number of her criminal-defense practice.

She's now in hot water from an investigation into that incident. The charges from the city's inspector general are mostly minor -- using city phones and employees for some tasks related to her law practice -- but more importantly, the IG's report notes that Jones interfered with the investigation by "instructing her staff not to meet with the OIG investigator thus hindering their ability to fully cooperate."

The report also said " Jones was untruthful in her sworn sstatement when she denied using City resources and employees to aid in the furtherance of her private law practice and when she denied instructing, directing and/or encouraging her staff to postpone, cancel or delay meeting with the OIG investigator.

That's a pretty serious charge. Not in terms of criminality, really, because the report says her untruthfulness and obstruction violated an executive order of the city, not an ordinance.

The charges involving use of city resources are Class C misdemeanors. City Attorney David Feldman says he is still deciding whether to file charges against Jones.

Jones issued this statement: "I have just received this report and will comment further once I have reviewed it. I hold myself and my staff to the highest ethical standards. I look forward to clearing up any misunderstandings with respect to this report as expeditiously as the process permits."

Seriously, what kind of public official urges people NOT to talk to the police? This Grace Jones-wanna-be needs to be slapped. Then we she calls the police to report it they need to first, ignore her, then slap her as well.

Jolanda is an embarrassment to all of Houston, to lesbians everywhere, to the Black community, and to humanity as a whole. The sooner she goes away the better off we'll all be.

This seems like the kind of thing that would have fallen by the wayside if she had ANYBODY on the City Council or in city government who could stand her. However, she so alienates everyone with whom she comes into contact, people will jump at anything to have a slap at her.

In the end, these smallish things don't seem like they will make much difference: She's already in her last term on the Council, isn't she?

But maybe we can nip this thoroughly unlikeable character's career in the bud here before she runs for a higher office...

Have you ever had the pleasure of talking to the police? I've called the cops to report crimes only to have them treat me like a criminal, running my ID, asking me if I'm gang-affiliated, (I had long hair in those days and wore my brother's biker jacket). I had cops take my car apart looking for drugs after it was decided I was lawfully carrying a pistol they wanted to confiscate. After finding nothing, they left me on the side of the road, dark-thirty at night to put my car back together.

I can only imagine how I would've been treated if I were African American, or named Sancho.